The invention relates to drive systems for agricultural equipment and, more specifically, to a drive system for a baler of large cylindrical bales consisting of gear boxes and a plurality of transverse shafts and rollers driven by the gear boxes and slidably disengageable therefrom for easy assembly and repair of the baler.
In recent years, the agricultural practice of collecting crop materials, such as corn stalks, straw, green forage crops, and grasses, has been revolutionized by baling machines which produce large cylindrical bales of up to approximately six feet in diameter. Examples of such baling machines are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,722,197 and 4,172,354. Such machines include two, opposite and spaced apart side walls that support a plurality of transverse shafts or rollers extended therebetween. A plurality of endless belts are trained about the shafts and define a baling chamber in which the large round bale is formed. A crop pick-up mechanism picks up crop material off the ground and feeds it into the baling chamber where the plurality of endless belts roll and compress the crop material into a large cylindrical bale.
Most such baling mechanisms are driven from the power take-off of a tractor which is used to pull the baling machine over the ground. A main drive sprocket located on the outside of one of the side walls is interconnected to the tractor power take-off typically by a 90-degree gear box. A plurality of roller chains are used to transmit rotation of the main drive sprocket to certain of the transverse shafts for driving the shafts and thereby the plurality of endless belts. A roller chain also is used to transmit rotation of the main drive sprocket to a drive mechanism for the crop pick up means.
The roller chains and sprocket drive mechanism suffers from a number of draw backs and limitations. The chains must be constantly lubricated by a brush and drip system or the like. Although the chains are typically housed behind a shield, the baling operation gives rise to large amounts of chaff and other finely divided crop material that finds its way inside the housing and collects on the oiled chains and sprockets. Roller chains also stretch as a result of use and so to maintain the required tension requires either the use of a spring-loaded idler or the like or periodic adjustment. Further, the endless chains carry a substantial load during operation and can, if improperly maintained, break and cause bodily injury to an operator.
The roller chain and sprocket drive mechanisms also are difficult to assemble and disassemble with the result that the balers are fully assembled at the manufacturing site and shipped in the assembled condition. The balers enclose a large volume of empty space in the assembled condition and, accordingly, take up a lot of costly shipping room. Repairs that require disassembly of the driven transverse shafts from the associated sprockets and mountings are slow and difficult. A common repair on the balers is the replacement of a failed belt. Continuous, seamless belts have been developed which may reduce belt failures. The time and difficulty of removing the driven transverse shafts and rollers that would be necessary to use such belts is one reason that has prevented their adoption and use.